Sunday, August 10, 2014

During Thursday’s pre-season game against the New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts’ rookie OT Ulrick John and second-year OC Khaled Holmes both sustained ankle injuries, immediately taking them out of the game.

#Colts OL and seventh rd pick Ulrick John is believed to have a broken ankle. Undergoing tests in Indy this morning. OL takes another hit
— Stephen Holder (@HolderStephen) August 8, 2014

With the seventh-round pick in former Georgia State OT Ulrick John, the Colts were getting a relative steal. According to SB Nation’s site Blue Stampede, “the first thing that jumps out about John is the very thing Ryan Grigson and others have noted as well - that John looks like a prototypical left tackle. He has great size (the Colts roster lists him as 6-5, though the Georgia State site lists him as 6-8 and I've seen everywhere in between as well. There are discrepancies with his weight, as well, but with both figures I've stuck to what the Colts roster says). He is an athletic player and a solid blocker.”

While the timetable for John’s return is still unknown, the Indianapolis Star stated, “the Colts are also expected to lose seventh-round pick Ulrick John, an offensive tackle, for an extended period after he suffered a broken ankle in the game, a source said.”

With that in mind, John’s return could be anywhere from one month, to six months, it all depends on how the Doctors look at him. Currently the starting left guard is Jack Mewhort, however questions still arise over who will be Mewhort’s back-up considering that back-up Donald Thomas suffered a torn quadriceps.

As for starting OC Khaled Holmes, his return is looking a lot brighter than John’s. The only problem is back-up center Johnotthan Harrison who botched two snaps during Thursday night’s game.

The Colts have reportedly re-signed Thomas Austin off of the practice squad. But for a Colts’ offensive line as ravaged as this, free agency and waivers seem like the best and only option at this point.

According to an interview with ESPN, coach Chuck Pagano stated, “we’d love to line up week in and week out with the same lineup, play 16 games with the same five. We had eight different lineups last year. The way things are going now, with the injuries we have now, it’s been difficult to get through the first portion of camp. It’s a challenge, but we have smart guys, we have tough guys.”

Hopefully at least Holmes comes back before the season starts. If Holmes does not progress as well as Pagano predicts, we could be seeing some mixing and matching this off-season from the Colts coaching staff.
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